I went for a short 14km ride last night after replacing the sub-frame bolt - seems fine, no evidence of coolant dripping from the overflow pipe, although the overflow bottle seemed about 5mm short of coolant, but there are always the odd air-bubble in the system that needs to work its way out, no evidence of oil leaks either, which is rather nice!

This morning I checked the rad after leaving it to cool overnight, just about spot-on!! Yay!!

Just one thing. Have you not considered changing Blitsie's gender from "he" to "SHE"? It just makes so much more sense...

I mean, the amount of time you spent on erm, it, some people might think you strange if it is a HE. if it is a she, no problem, because we know they need lots of tlc

True This. However @tankgirl is, well, a lady, and she named him Blitsie, so I am not sure of the protocol surrounding the renaming/re-sexing of a bike..... I believe a small weekend away ride to the hills of the Wolkberg Reserve, to further contemplate the change, to make fire, and drink beer, and to ride, not necessarily in that order....

So Saturday I decided to do some Speedy Upgrades at the last minute, I decided I wanted the GPS mounted and a power source, as we are testing Blitsie on Sunday morning, so I managed to whip these up from some off-cuts laying around.

Pity the GPS is in the way of my Speedo, but you cant win them all......

So Sunday we rode - met @Halfdaft at the R59N Blockhouse at a very reasonable 8am, and headed NW into the hills, dales, logging camps, tracks, mud and a mighty, mighty good time...

Blitsie performed well, but I had this niggling doubt.... SHE didnt start quite as easily, there was the odd backfire, seemed a little down on power, and there was a rattle at the top-end, like a loose rocker-arm or something, a loose tappet......

Anyway, off home after a great ride - damn, I am unfit, I ache in places that shouldn't ache....., Anyway, after a pressure wash and a sponge bath, I checked fluids, found that they were low, so I had a beer. Blitsie was fine tho, coolant and oil PERFECT! That's a relief, we have solved the "Vanishing Coolant" mystery.....s So then I decided that I might have mis-timed the cams, maybe out by one tooth on the exhaust, or inlet perhaps? Ony one way to find out, whip the panels off, airbox off, injectors etc., and off with the valve covers.

First - check the cam-sprocket alignment at TDC - spot on, so thats not the problem....Second, check the valce gaps. Inlet - under 0.05mm, so spot on. Outlet - one is 0.25mm, perfect. Other one is 0.95mm........ Now thats a problem..... - WTF happened?

Remove the cams then, take the bucket of the one exhaust valve top and were the hell is the shim?? Vanished!! How does a shim vanish off the top of the valve spring cover, in a bucket, so a sealed area? Thought process kicks in - go look in the discarded plastic bags, all neatly labeled, and....

How, in the name of all things motorcycle related, did that get left out???

Long and short, replaced it - bucket was not damaged luckily - replaced all the bits - tap the starter button and she fires up first swing.....

Just a question...did you rebore or hone the barrel? I stand under correction but I believe the BMW 650 barrel is nikasil plated.

Correct - Nikasil coated - and we didn't bore it because it still had the original cross-hatching marks on it, and we also had it measured in a temperature controlled measuring room, x- and y-axis, top, middle & bottom of the barrel and it was all well within spec.

Ummm and you didn’t notice when you checked the valve clearances after fitting the cams? just asking

And I wondered if the question was going to be asked....

I did measure, but before i took the cams off - theory being that there is no adjustment anyway, so if its measured before removal (manual recommends this) and then I reassembled them. I didn't check again after assembly - I mean why bother...... and that's where the lesson was learned.....

I am very glad the bucket wasn't damaged!!!

But in all honesty, I should have worked out something was amiss when i tried to start it, it battled a bit, back-fired twice, and sounded like there was a tappet knock (which there was) - the only downside was a slight performance loss (one exhaust valve is opening late & closing early) and it just felt "off"At that point i should have re-checked, but I was impatient......

Just a question...did you rebore or hone the barrel? I stand under correction but I believe the BMW 650 barrel is nikasil plated.

Correct - Nikasil coated - and we didn't bore it because it still had the original cross-hatching marks on it, and we also had it measured in a temperature controlled measuring room, x- and y-axis, top, middle & bottom of the barrel and it was all well within spec.

Ah ok that's interesting. My friend is quite into two strokes and told me there is only one place in JHB that does nicasil plating.

Just a question...did you rebore or hone the barrel? I stand under correction but I believe the BMW 650 barrel is nikasil plated.

Correct - Nikasil coated - and we didn't bore it because it still had the original cross-hatching marks on it, and we also had it measured in a temperature controlled measuring room, x- and y-axis, top, middle & bottom of the barrel and it was all well within spec.

Ah ok that's interesting. My friend is quite into two strokes and told me there is only one place in JHB that does nicasil plating.

properly yes just the one. 👍😎

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If I had a dollar for every girl that found me unattractive, they'd eventually find me attractive.

Just a question...did you rebore or hone the barrel? I stand under correction but I believe the BMW 650 barrel is nikasil plated.

Correct - Nikasil coated - and we didn't bore it because it still had the original cross-hatching marks on it, and we also had it measured in a temperature controlled measuring room, x- and y-axis, top, middle & bottom of the barrel and it was all well within spec.

Ah ok that's interesting. My friend is quite into two strokes and told me there is only one place in JHB that does nicasil plating.

Did about 110km yesterday morning with Halfdaft and a new WD, then home to inspect - there is a small leak on the drive-shaft (suspect it worn), but nothing to stop a good ride! We rode quite hard (for me anyway), some great tar to open up the top-end, some awesome twin- and single-track, the X handles the tight stuff brilliantly, I cannot get over what I've been missing!!

Except for the leaky final drive seal, she's going like stink - i am loving this bike!!

Final Drive is leaking a little, not too major, but as I already replaced the seal, it COULD be that a new drive-shaft is required, which would be a little tragic as then every single gasket needs to be replaced again.....

Except for the leaky final drive seal, she's going like stink - i am loving this bike!!

Final Drive is leaking a little, not too major, but as I already replaced the seal, it COULD be that a new drive-shaft is required, which would be a little tragic as then every single gasket needs to be replaced again.....

Ah well!!

is the bearing removable from outside, bearing and seal would be my first option 👍

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If I had a dollar for every girl that found me unattractive, they'd eventually find me attractive.

Except for the leaky final drive seal, she's going like stink - i am loving this bike!!

Final Drive is leaking a little, not too major, but as I already replaced the seal, it COULD be that a new drive-shaft is required, which would be a little tragic as then every single gasket needs to be replaced again.....

Ah well!!

is the bearing removable from outside, bearing and seal would be my first option 👍

Bearing no, its internal, as well as being a brand new sealed unit, but seal, yes, that's an external press-in.

Bearing no, its internal, as well as being a brand new sealed unit, but seal, yes, that's an external press-in.

BUT there is no excuse for stoopid. Cant be excused. It's just doff.

Is the final drive seal another term for counter-sprocket shaft seal? If that seal is ANYTHING like the KLR's, then I would replace that once more before going all-in for another major operation.

I replaced mine a while back and it is UNBELIEVABLY prone to damage. I damaged the first (no visual damage, but slow seepage) and then replaced again to achieve success. I sleeved the shaft by folding oil-covered paper around it so that the seal can slide over without damage.